Fox News Maintains Dominance in May, Surpassing ABC and Leaving Competitors Behind
In May, Fox News Channel continued to be the top choice for Americans seeking news and analysis, outperforming broadcast network ABC in weekday primetime and dominating other cable news networks across all key metrics.
Fox News averaged 2.9 million viewers during weekday primetime, making it the fourth highest-rated television network overall and surpassing ABC’s 2.7 million viewers.
Over the entire day, Fox News drew an average of 1.6 million viewers, significantly outpacing MSNBC’s 545,000 and CNN’s 353,000. Notably, Fox News saw a 21% increase in total day viewership compared to May 2024, while MSNBC and CNN experienced declines of 33% and 24%, respectively.
Primetime ratings painted a similar picture, with Fox News averaging approximately 2.5 million viewers, far ahead of MSNBC’s 877,000 and CNN’s 426,000.
Fox News also led the coveted 25-54 adult demographic, attracting 180,000 viewers during the day, while CNN and MSNBC lagged with just 59,000 and 49,000 viewers, respectively.
“The Special Report with Bret Baier” averaged more than 2.8 million viewers in May, underscoring Fox News’ strong lineup.
In primetime key demo ratings (8-11 p.m.), Fox News averaged 262,000 viewers, dominating over CNN’s 76,000 and MSNBC’s 73,000.
Fox News claimed nearly 65% of the cable news audience share across total day and primetime, demonstrating significant growth—up 23% year-over-year in total viewers and 32% in the key demographic. Meanwhile, CNN and MSNBC hit historic lows in May, marking their second-worst performance in the demo for both total day and primetime.
Fox News has now led cable news in total and demo viewers for 51 consecutive months and has aired the 1,100 highest-rated cable news telecasts since Election Day, including the top 135 telecasts in May alone.
“The Five,” Fox News’ top-rated show, attracted an astounding 3.8 million viewers and 368,000 in the 25-54 demo, outperforming all cable news programs. Other top Fox News programs included “Jesse Watters Primetime,” “Gutfeld!,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” “Hannity,” “The Ingraham Angle,” “The Will Cain Show,” “Outnumbered,” and “The Faulkner Focus,” with CNN and MSNBC failing to place any shows in the top ten.
Fox News also led morning cable news, with “FOX & Friends” averaging 1.4 million viewers, surpassing combined audiences of CNN and MSNBC.
Newly launched shows like “The Will Cain Show” drew an impressive 2.1 million viewers in May, while daytime programs such as “America’s Newsroom,” “America Reports,” and “The Story” continued to post strong numbers.
By contrast, CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” recorded its worst month since August 2015, averaging only 525,000 viewers despite a heavily promoted book tour by Tapper.
On weekends, Fox News consistently outperformed CNN and MSNBC in every hour among both total and demo viewers. “My View with Lara Trump” topped Saturday with 1.4 million viewers, and “Sunday Morning Futures” led Sunday’s ratings with 1.7 million.
Nielsen MRI Fusion data confirms that Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike tuned into Fox News over any other cable network throughout the day.
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